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Kiribati Consolidated Legislation |
LAWS
OF THE GILBERT ISLANDS
REVISED
EDITION 1977
CHAPTER 54
MARRIAGE
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section
PART
I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title
2. Interpretation
3. Registration of
ministers of religion and appointment of lay preachers
PART
II
RESTRICTIONS ON
MARRIAGE
4. Marriage within prohibited degrees
5. Marriage of
persons under 16
6. Marriage of persons already married
7. Marriage of
persons under 21
PART
III
PRELIMINARIES TO
MARRIAGE
8. Notice of marriage
9. Registrar to issue certificate
for marriage
10. Marriage to be solemnised within 3 months of notice
11.
Minister may grant licence to marry
12. Objections to marriage
PART
IV
SOLEMNISATION OF
MARRIAGE
13. Certificate or licence and declaration precedent to
marriage
14. Place, time and form of marriage before registrar
15. Place,
time and form of marriage before ministers of religion and lay preachers
16.
Certificate of marriage
PART
V
REGISTRATION OF
MARRIAGES
17. Registration of marriages before registrar
18.
Registration of marriages before marriage officer other than registrar
19.
Correction of errors in certificate of marriages
20. Supply of books and
forms
PART
VI
MARRIAGE SOLEMNISED OUT OF THE
GILBERT ISLANDS
21. Issue of certificate for marriage m the United Kingdom
of British subject resident in the Gilbert Islands
22. Notice of marriage
under Foreign Marriage Act 1892
23. Filing and posting notice
24.
Certificate of Registrar-General
PART
VII
MISCELLANEOUS
25. Marriage by proxy
26. Marriage in
articulo mortis and conditions
precedent
27. Unlawfully solemnising marriage ceremony
28. Offences
relating to issue of certificates for marriage
29. Marriages when
invalid
30. Fees
31. Forms
32. Regulations
SCHEDULES
-----------------------------------------------------
An Ordinance relating to
the solemnisation and registration of marriages
8
of 1967
2 of
1969
8 of
1971
(Cap. 29 of
1973)
L.N.
16/74
L.N. 49/68
Commencement: 2nd October 1968
PART
I
PRELIMINARY
Short
Title
1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Marriage
Ordinance.
Interpretation
2.
In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires-
"certificate for marriage" means a certificate issued by a registrar under section 9;
"certificate of marriage" means a certificate issued by a marriage officer under section 16;
"licence" means a licence granted under section 11;
"marriage officer" means the Registrar-General, a registrar, a minister of religion registered under section 3 (1), and a lay preacher appointed under section 3 (2);
"registrar" means a registrar of births, deaths and marriages appointed for a district under section 5 of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Ordinance, and also means the Registrar-General whenever also appointed as registrar for a district under section 5 of the said Ordinance;
(Cap. 5)
"Registrar-General" means the Registrar-General of births, deaths and marriages appointed under section 3 of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Ordinance;
"registry" means the office of the Registrar-General and the office of a registrar.
Registration
of ministers of religion and appointment of lay preacher
3. (1)
Upon an application for registration to solemnise marriages by a minister of
religion ordinarily officiating as such or by
the head of the religious
denomination to whom the minister belongs, the Registrar-General may enter the
minister’s name in
a register kept for that purpose.
(2) Upon an
application by the head of a religious denomination on behalf of a lay preacher,
the Registrar-General may appoint the
lay preacher to be a marriage
officer.
(3) The Registrar-General may at any time remove a minister's
name from the register, and may at any time cancel any appointment made
under
subsection (2).
(4) A list of ministers and lay preachers registered and
appointed respectively to solemnise marriages under this Ordinance shall
be
published in the Gazette in the month of January of each year and shall be kept
posted at each registry.
(5) Ministers and lay preachers registered and
appointed respectively to solemnise marriages under any law in force prior to
the coming
into operation of this Ordinance shall be deemed to be duly
registered or appointed, as the case may be, under this Ordinance.
PART
II
RESTRICTIONS ON
MARRIAGE
Marriage within
prohibited degrees
Schedule
1
4. A marriage solemnised between a man and any of the persons
mentioned in the first column of Schedule 1, or between a woman and
any of the
persons mentioned in the second column of the said Schedule, shall be
void.
Marriage of persons under
16
5. A marriage solemnised between persons either of whom is under
the age of 16 shall be void.
Marriage
of persons already married
6. A marriage solemnised between
persons in relation to either of whom there subsists a valid marriage shall be
void.
Marriage of persons under
21
7. (1) When either party to an intended marriage, not being a
widower or a widow, is under 21 years of age, the written consent of
the father,
or if he be dead or of unsound mind or absent from the district, of the mother,
or if both be dead or of unsound mind
or absent from the district, of the
guardian of such party, shall be required:
Provided, however,
that-
(a) when such party has no father, mother or guardian, the Registrar-General may, if satisfied after due inquiry that the intended marriage is a proper one, dispense with such consent;
(b) when the person whose consent is required refuses his consent, the Registrar-General may, if satisfied after due inquiry that the refusal is perverse and that it is in the best interests of the party requiring the consent that the intended marriage should take place, dispense with such consent.
(2) If the person required to signify his consent is
illiterate, he shall sign his consent by placing his mark thereto after it has
been read over and explained to him by a magistrate or a marriage officer who
shall attest the same.
PART
III
PRELIMINARIES TO
MARRIAGE
Notice of
marriage
8. (1) Whenever, after the commencement of this
Ordinance, any persons desire to marry, one of the parties to the intended
marriage
shall give to the registrar of the district in which the marriage is
intended to take place a notice in the Form A of Schedule 2.
(2) Upon
receipt of such notice the registrar shall cause the particulars thereof to be
entered in a book to be called the "Marriage
Notice Book", which may be
inspected during working hours without fee, and he shall publish such notice by
leaving a copy of it posted
on the outer wall of his office until he grants his
certificate for marriage or until 3 months shall have
elapsed.
Registrar to issue certificate
for marriage
9. The registrar, at any time after the expiration of
21 days and before the expiration of 3 months from the date of the notice, upon
payment of the prescribed fee, shall thereupon issue his certificate in the Form
B of Schedule 2:
Provided always that he shall not issue his certificate
until he has been satisfied that-
(a) one of the parties has been resident within the district in which the marriage is intended to be solemnised at least 28 days preceding the granting of the certificate;
(b) each of the parties to the intended marriage (not being a widower or widow) is 21 years old, or that if he or she is under age, that the required consent has been given or has been dispensed with;
(c) there is no impediment of kindred or affinity, or any other lawful hindrance to the marriage.
Marriage to be solemnised
within 3 months of notice
10. If the marriage is not solemnised
within 3 months of the date of the notice, the notice and all proceedings
consequent thereupon
shall be
void.
Minister may grant licence to
marry
11. The Minister, upon proof being made to his satisfaction
by affidavit that there is no lawful impediment to a proposed marriage,
and that
the necessary consent, if any, to such marriage has been obtained, may, if he
shall think fit, dispense with the giving
of notice and with the issue of the
certificate for marriage, and may grant his licence which shall be in Form C of
Schedule 2, authorising
the solemnisation of a marriage between the parties
named in such licence.
Objections to
marriage
12. (1) At any time after notice of an intended marriage
has been given but before the issue of the certificate for marriage, any
person,
whose consent to the marriage is hereby required or who may know of any just
cause why the marriage should not take place,
may give notice, either orally or
in writing, to the registrar of the district where notice of marriage has been
given, stating the
reasons why he objects to the marriage.
(2) On receipt
of such notice, the registrar shall cause the word "forbidden'' to be entered
opposite to the entry of the notice of
marriage in the Marriage Notice Book, and
shall make full inquiry as to the genuineness or otherwise of the objection to
the marriage.
(3) If the registrar is satisfied that no objection exists
he shall cancel the word "forbidden" and make and sign an entry in the
Marriage
Notice Book to the effect that after investigation the objection was not
sustained, and he may then issue his certificate
and the marriage may proceed as
if no objection had been entered.
(4) If, on investigation, the objection
is found to be valid, an entry to that effect shall be made in the Marriage
Notice Book and
the certificate for marriage shall not be
issued:
Provided that, if either party is dissatisfied with the decision
of the registrar he may within 2 months refer the decision to the
Registrar-General, or where the Registrar-General is himself the registrar of
the district, to the Attorney-General who shall decide
upon the validity or
otherwise of the objection; and if the Registrar-General or the
Attorney-General, as the case may be, decides
that the objection is not valid
the entry in the Marriage Notice Book shall be cancelled, and the certificate
for marriage may then
be issued.
(5) The time which may have elapsed
between the entering of an objection and the final decision in respect of it,
shall not be computed
in the period of 3 months specified in sections 9 and
10.
(6) Any person who, without sufficient and proper cause, wilfully
gives notice of objection to a marriage shall be liable to a fine
of $50, and,
in default of payment, to imprisonment for 3 months.
PART
IV
SOLEMNISATION OF
MARRIAGES
Certificate or licence
and declaration precedent to marriage
13. (1) No marriage other
than a marriage in articulo mortis
shall be solemnised except under the authority of a registrar's certificate for
marriage or of a licence granted under section 11.
(2) No marriage other
than a marriage by proxy shall be solemnised until each of the parties to the
marriage, and in the case of a
marriage by proxy until the resident party to the
marriage, shall have made and signed, or affixed a mark to, the declaration in
Form D of Schedule 2 before the marriage officer solemnising the marriage and
the witnesses to it.
Place, time and
form of marriage before registrar
14. A marriage before a
registrar shall be solemnised in the registry or in a court-house between the
hours of 8 o'clock in the forenoon
and 4.30 o'clock in the afternoon in the
presence of two witnesses, and the registrar shall ascertain from the parties to
the intended
marriage that they are entering into the contract of marriage
freely and voluntarily, and thereupon each party shall say to the other:
"I call upon these persons here present to witness that I, AB, do take thee, CD, to be my lawful wedded wife (or husband)".
Place, time and form of
marriage before ministers of religion and lay preachers
15. A
marriage before a minister of religion or a lay preacher shall be solemnised
between the hours of 6 o'clock in the forenoon
and 6 o'clock in the afternoon,
in the presence of at least two witnesses in the church or other public place of
worship in the district
in which notice of marriage was given, and in such form
and ceremony as the minister or lay preacher may think fit to
adopt:
Provided that at some stage of the ceremony the parties to the
marriage shall freely and publicly express their wish of becoming man
and wife
and each party shall say to the other:
"I, AB, do take thee, CD, to be my wedded wife (or husband)."
Certificate of
marriage
16. Immediately upon the solemnisation of the marriage,
the marriage officer, the parties and the witnesses to the marriage shall
sign
in duplicate a certificate in the Form E of Schedule 2, and a copy of such
certificate shall be handed to one of the parties
to the marriage.
PART
V
REGISTRATION OF
MARRIAGES
Registration of
marriages
17. Whenever a marriage is solemnised by a registrar, he
shall, after entering forthwith the particulars of the certificate of marriage
in a register to be kept for that purpose and to be called the "District
Marriage Register", file the duplicate of the certificate
of
marriage.
Registration of marriages
before marriage officer other than registrar
18. (1) Whenever a
marriage is solemnised by a marriage officer other than a registrar, such
marriage officer shall within 7 days
of the solemnisation of the marriage
transmit to the registrar the certificate for marriage, the declaration referred
to in section
13 (2) and the duplicate of the certificate of marriage.
(2) Upon receipt of the certificate of marriage the registrar shall
forthwith enter the particulars thereof in the District Marriage
Register, and
every entry made under this subsection shall be dated on the day on which it was
so entered and shall be signed by
the
registrar.
Correction of errors in
certificates of marriages
19. A registrar, when authorised by the
Registrar-General, may correct any clerical error in any certificate of marriage
filed in
his office, upon production to him of the certificate delivered to the
parties, and shall authenticate every such correction by his
signature and the
date of such correction.
Supply of
books and forms
20. (1) It shall be the duty of the
Registrar-General to supply each registrar with all the books, certificates and
other prescribed
forms required under this Ordinance.
(2) It shall be the
duty of each registrar to supply the marriage officers in his district with a
sufficient number of certificates
of marriage and of such other forms as they
may require.
PART
VI
MARRIAGE SOLEMNISED OUT OF THE
GILBERT ISLANDS
Issue of certificate for
marriage in the United Kingdom of British subject resident in the Gilbert
Islands
21. Where a marriage is intended to be solemnised or
contracted in the United Kingdom between a British subject resident there and
a
British subject resident in the Gilbert Islands, a certificate for marriage may
be issued in the Islands by a registrar in the
like manner as if the marriage
was to be solemnised or contracted under circumstances requiring the issue of
such certificate, and
as if both British subjects were resident in the
Islands.
Notice of marriage under
Foreign Marriage Act 1892
22. Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnised in any foreign country under the Foreign Marriage Act 1892, a notice
of such marriage
shall be given by one of the parties intending such marriage,
who has had his or her usual place of abode for a period of not less
than 1 week
immediately preceding in some place within the Gilbert Islands, to the
Registrar-General; and a notice under this section
may be in Form 1 of Schedule
3.
Filing and posting
notice
23. (1) The Registrar-General shall file every such notice
and shall enter a copy thereof in a book to be kept for that purpose, and
shall
publish such notice by forthwith posting up the same in a conspicuous place in
his office, and shall keep the same so posted
up during 14 consecutive days.
(2) The said book and the copy so posted up shall be open at all
reasonable times without fee to the inspection of any
person.
Certificate of
Registrar-General
24. The Registrar-General if he is satisfied
that the party giving such notice has actually been resident in the Gilbert
Islands for
not less than 1 week immediately preceding the giving of such
notice, and unless he is aware of any impediment or objection which
should
obstruct the solemnisation of the marriage, shall give a certificate that such
notice has been so given and published as aforesaid,
which certificate may be in
Form 2 of Schedule 3.
PART
VII
MISCELLANEOUS
Marriage by
proxy
25. (1) Whenever a person over the age of 21 years is
resident out of the Gilbert Islands and desires to enter into a contract of
marriage with a person resident in the Islands he shall forward to the
Registrar-General an application for permission to marry by
proxy in the
Islands.
(2) The application shall contain the following
particulars:
name of applicant,
his nationality,
his date and place of birth,
his usual place of residence,
the name and address of the proxy; and
shall be accompanied by the certificate of birth of the
applicant and by his affidavit, sworn before any person authorised under the
law
of the applicant's country of residence to administer oaths and take affidavits,
to the effect that there is no lawful impediment
to the marriage whether by
reason of kindred or affinity, or by reason of any former marriage or any other
lawful cause.
(3) Having considered the application, the
Registrar-General may, in his discretion, authorise the marriage, and such
authority shall
be evidenced by his endorsement of the certificate for marriage
issued by a registrar pursuant to section 9.
(4) A marriage by proxy
shall not be solemnised unless and until the certificate for marriage shall have
been endorsed as provided
under subsection
(3).
Marriage in
articulo
mortis and conditions precedent
26. (1) A marriage officer may, without any of the formalities
required by this Ordinance, solemnise a marriage between two persons
one of whom
is in articulo mortis.
(2) No
such marriage shall be solemnised unless-
(a) both parties are able to signify their consent thereto by signing or affixing their marks to the certificate of marriage in the presence of two attesting witnesses;
(b) written consent to the marriage, where required under section 7 (1), has been given or has been dispensed with.
Unlawfully solemnising
marriage ceremony
27. Whoever solemnises a marriage without being
qualified so to do, or if qualified so to do, does so without the authority of a
certificate
for marriage or of a licence, where such certificate or licence is
required, shall be liable to a fine of $500 or to imprisonment
for 1
year.
Offences relating to issue of
certificates for marriage
28. If a registrar knowingly and
wilfully-
(a) issues a certificate for marriage before the expiration of 21 days from the day on which notice of marriage was entered in the marriage notice book;
(b) issues a certificate for marriage after the expiration of 3 months from the said day;
(c) issues a certificate for marriage the issue of which has been forbidden under section 12;
he shall be liable to a
fine of $500 or to imprisonment for 1
year.
Marriages when
invalid
29. A marriage solemnised after the commencement of this
Ordinance shall be null and void if-
(a) solemnised by a person other than a marriage officer;
(b) either of the parties to it has married under a false name;
(c) solemnised without the authority of a certificate for marriage or of a licence where such certificate or licence is required;
(d) solemnised without the endorsement by the Registrar-General of the certificate for marriage where such endorsement is required.
Fees
Schedule
4
30. (1) The fees specified in Schedule 4 shall be paid to the
registrars in respect of the several matters to which they are
applicable.
(2) All fees collected or paid under this Ordinance shall be
paid into the Consolidated
Fund.
Forms
31. The forms
in Schedules 2 and 3, or forms to the like effect, may be used in the cases to
which they refer, with such variations
as circumstances may
require.
Regulations
32.
The Minister may make regulations prescribing forms or fees or replacing,
revoking, varying or adding to any of the forms or fees
prescribed by this
Ordinance.
----------------------------------
SCHEDULE
1
(Section
4)
KINDRED AND AFFINITY
PROHIBITED DEGREES OF RELATIONSHIP
Mother Father
Daughter Son
Father's mother Father's
father
Mother's mother Mother's father
Son's daughter Son's
son
Daughter's daughter Daughter's son
Sister Brother
Wife's
mother Husband's father
Wife's daughter Husband's son
Father's
wife Mother's husband
Son's wife Daughter's husband
Father's father's
wife Father's mother's husband
Mother's father's wife Mother s mother's
husband
Wife's father's mother Husband's father's father
Wife's mother's
mother Husband's mother's father
Wife's son's daughter Husband's son's
son
Wife's daughter's daughter Husband's daughter's son
Son's son's
wife Son's daughter's husband
Daughter's son's wife Daughter's daughter's
husband
Father's sister Father s brother
Mother's sister Mother's
brother
Brother's daughter Brother's son
Sister's daughter Sister's
son
----------------------------------------
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